Project Heartless
by scout-islander
Summary: Aros, a supposed cheerful heartless, fills the role of a key bearer, along with goofys son max, timon and mike, as they quash the attempts of a villain calling himself Deigtif.


"Why are you doing that?" Lelie looked at the shrine. She looked at Aros, who was drifting away. She knew that only on thing could change all this. Staring at Aros, she lifted her keyblade. Aros stared at her in disbelief. "You can't.." Lelie cried, as she prepared her last goodbye. Aros simply sat down, and waited for what we would all meet. And Lelie lowered her weapon.  
"I can't do it" she sighed. "I could never do it..." Aros watched as she stood up. As she took aim once more...

Chapter 1  
"I have studied the heartless for countless years, and though I know they are the darkness in people's hearts, then surely, there must be light?"  
- Ansem??  
Aros looked around. Darkness to his right, darkness to his left. He looked at his hand. Fine. His feet. Fine. His head? A little woozy, but fine. His eyes began adjusting to the light…what light? A closer look showed that it was pitch black, but that there seemed to be a light source above him. Blackness pierced his heart, and he felt confused. He stood up and gazed at the glass floor beneath him, which had been decorated to look like a princess. Smiling, he stared at her pretty face and dress. It was not a princess he had heard of…wherever he had come from. He realized he was falling in love…he slapped his forehead, only to see that his hand was...was…that of a monsters. He searched around, hoping to find an exit. Then he looked up, and saw the door. Next to it was a large key. He studied it.

"Ah, a keyblade", now that was weird. How did he know what it was? A creature appeared behind him. He hit it with the key, and it vanished. Huh? Oh well, at least he was safe now, and a little bit more alert too. He opened the door, and stepped into the light.  
A huge castle stood before him. Oh, he thought, castle oblivion...how did he know that? He saw a worried boy in front of him, and immediately noticed that he was wielding a keyblade. He walked over, and tapped him on the shoulder. The boy looked up, and jumped. He was obviously scared of him. Aros tried to calm him, but all that came out was a whisper. The boy pointed at him and said something.  
"Whoa, a heartless!"  
Of course, thought Aros, I'm a heartless! But how could I know? I have no memory what so ever! He thought for a couple of seconds. Maybe this boy could help. He was very surprised to suddenly hear his voice come back to him.  
"I'm Aros, and you must be Sora!" Sora stared.  
"How could you know that?" Aros sat down sadly.  
"To be perfectly honest with you, I don't know. I've lost my memory, but I seem to gradually be getting it back. My name is yours spelt backwards." Suddenly, his face lit up."Wait, I'm your dark side! I came here to?.."  
"Help me search for my friends? Find the king?" Sora was obviously trying to help, but to no avail.  
"I'm sorry, I just can't remember, apart from who I am, what I am, that's about it." He didn't let on that he knew where they were, he wanted to discover that for himself. Then an idea occurred to him. "Maybe, Sora, if you told me who your friends were, I could help." Sora thought for a moment.  
"Okay, my friends Donald and Goofy are waiting for me through here, and I'm looking for Riku and King Mickey." Wow, riku sounded familiar...  
In the shadows, someone was watching, but only for a couple of seconds. Aros jerked, but the creature was gone. He began to think of how he knew who this boy's friend was…  
"Riku had something to do with where I live. Sora, I know where I come from now."  
"Where, Aros?" the heartless looked at the ground. He turned to Sora and put his hand on Sora's keyblade. A flash of light appeared, and then vanished. Aros began.  
"Why, I come from Kingdom Hearts."

Timon stared up at the big sign.  
"Congrats, you have arrived at Disney Castle!"  
He sighed. Ever since Simba and Pumba had gone missing, he'd been alone. Well, there had been his mom and Uncle Max, but they didn't count. He was actually a bit nervous, and after all, it's not everyday that a small meercat gets chosen to be Disney Castle's new jester. He braced himself.  
"Well, I guess it's time.Hakuna matata."  
Timon did not expect Disney Castle to be out of the ordinary. However, when he opened the door and saw a broom fly past him, he began to wonder what he'd let himself in for. The castle was mainly white and blue, with enourmous bookshelves filling most of the rooms. Flags were hung everywhere dedicated to king Mickey, the most powerful mouse in the world. Every room was so extravagant, that Timon almost gave up and was tempted to take up residence. There were big signs pointing to the throne room, and even bigger signs pointing to the dining hall. He walked past the kitchen, where his pal Mike was working. Mike had recently lost his job at Monsters Inc, and was making a huge casserole. When he met Timon at the auditions, they had become big friends. Mike didn't notice Timon today however, as he was too busy embedded in his work.  
Timon entered the throne room without looking up.  
"Well?..uh? I?.. uh?.. no need for applause?..but, uh? it's my first day. What did the broom say when it walked into a bar? Ouch!?  
Silence.  
"Gee, this is a tough room."  
His eyes rested on the thrown...and stayed there.  
"No wonder! THE KING'S GONE!"  
He ran down the room screaming, and bumped right into Mike, who was fetching some supplies.  
"Whoa, Timon, what's the rush?"  
"An elephant just fell on the roof...CAN'T YOU GUESS! THE KING'S GONE!"  
Mike smiled, and explained the whole escapade to Timon.  
" Don't worry, Goofy and Donald have everything..."  
"But what if they don't? What if the king hasn't been found yet?..."  
Mike then interrupted.  
"Hey, wait, if we find the king?...then, don't we get to be heroes? And ride a cool gummi ship?"  
Timon thought about this.  
"It's a done deal!"  
They strode over to the room with the gummi ship. Much later, a broom reported that a gummi ship had been seen leaving the castle... and a half done casserole was in the kitchen.

"…and that's my story. Since then I've been looking for a way to get them back to me…" the old man sighed. He took another swig from his cup and gave it back to the barman. As people and Moogles drank, the old man peered at his companion. "I would thank you with a reward, but…" he sighed.."I wouldn't know how". The cloaked man leaned across, and pulled out a piece of paper with pictures of a girl in red and a blond boy. Under the pictures were two names…. The old man studied it. He took out a map and pointed out a small house off one of its backstreets. His companion, who had instantly gotten to his feet after seeing the map, began striding out, and the old man could've sworn that the man had flown. Getting back to his drink, he looked around and considered the time of day. It was particularly late. The cloaked man had not come at the time he promised, but it didn't matter. The old man looked across the road, and considered the munny he had earnt. No trouble, or worth. No worth at all….

"So, you come from Kingdom Hearts?"  
Aros scratched his head in thought. He really couldn't remember anything.  
"Basically. I'm not sure about anything else."  
Sora got to his feet. He stretched, and got ready to move. He stared at the gargantuan castle behind him.  
"Well, I'm going to explore Castle Oblivion"  
Aros stopped Sora in mid-run. Sora stared at the heartless, confused. Aros's grip was firm, much like the other heartless.  
"Don't go in. I don't know what's happening to me but…I have these images in my mind, some nice, some not so. I have a feeling that when you go in, you're memories will be gone and..."  
He was trying to choose the right words. He gathered up his strength and gulped. It was as if Soras going would destroy him.  
"...and you won't remember me."  
Sora smiled. He walked up to the castle, turned around and waved.  
"Aros, how could I ever forget myself?"  
Before Aros could answer, a huge gummi ship arrived, picked him up, and everything blacked out. He awoke to find two faces leaning down. At least, one of them was a face. The other was a huge eye. As he got up, he saw that it wasn't an eye at all...it was a monster. The other was a meercat in a jesters outfit. The two creatures were talking about something, and the monster looked really excited. He couldn't make out what he was saying, was it...aluda protrata? I gotta lombada? Hakuna matata?  
"See mike, he's the key bearer!"  
"Yeah, but he's a heartless!"  
Aros began to understand what was going on.But all that came out was...  
"Wumandojumandia?" He was still partially drowzy.  
Timon and Mike stared at him. Then they nodded. Then they knocked him out. And so, the two most unlikely friends and most unlikely hero began thier adventure.

The night was cold as the wind ran through the trees. The small town of London looked pale and, at the same time, menacing. Statues grimaced as the many sounds of creaking wood ricocheted in the dark streets. Professor Rattigan and his loyal friend, Fidget the bat, were laughing over an evil scheme they had concocted. They pranced around, getting ready for the big day. A large person appeared behind them.  
"So Pete, Zurg, ready for my evil scheme?"  
The evil emperor Zurg lost his temper. He had been working his cape off for this little weirdo, and now it was HIS evil scheme? Zurg leapt up and pointed a finger towards him.  
"This was my evil scheme! I'm the man with the heartless, you're the rat...  
Rattigan walked up to him, puffing himself up to his full height.  
"I am not a rat, I am a mouse! got it?"  
Pete had been watching everything from a small corner. He turned to them, then smiled and turned around to see a little mouse inventor glumly follow them.  
"Haw, with this little mouse, nothing can stop us! HAW HAW HAW!"  
The small mouse got back to work, muttering something to himself. Pete nodded his head in Rattigans direction. However, it was not Rattigan who received the signal- fidget smiled an evil smile, and returned the gesture. He began laughing manically, helping the mouse build the strange object.

"And you brought me here because..."  
"Because we have to save the king!" Exclaimed Mike. "After all, without the king, who's going to test my corn beef surprise or chocolate chicken...on second thoughts, don't answer that one." The trio sat gloomily. They'd been airborne for nearly an hour, and hadn't seen a single keyhole signal.  
"Gee, this is fun" murmured Aros.  
"Then why don't you think of something better , mister sarcastic?" declared Timon.  
"Why don't you...FLAMING NACHOS!"  
"Really?" asked Mike, sniffing the air." I don't smell anything, and believe me, when I smell flaming nachos..."  
Then mike looked up-and the sight they saw was amazing. It was a whole world, if a little mixed up, but still a world. The gang ventured on, preparing to land.

The gang had landed in a cozy little town. As timon looked up, he noticed a huge sign, which, for some reason, made him smile. Tempo Town was definitely to the gangs liking. The streets were well lit, and dozens of people walked to and fro. Some looked lost…come to think of it, thought aros, most of them looked lost. Some were even on the side of the road, crying into borrowed blankets. The café on the side was pretty inviting, so the trio decide to eat. Of course, aros had to wear a cloak-if he hadn't, everyone would've been against him. He overheard several people talking loudly.

"so" enquired one man, "do you know the fountains water is kept?"  
"no, I don't" the other man sounded scared. He began drinking, then put his mug down. 'many say it was blocked off by some kind of…monster!" the man had picked up his interest now. Aros began to leave, beckoning the two to follow him. He took off his cloak.  
"listen, you know how I'm a key-bearer? Well, I think it's time to test my skills." He looked right, then left. "you see, I overheard that there's a monster at the fountain. As it's probably a heartless, I've decided to to fight it. This way we'll have practice." The others didn't complain. If this was going to make them like Donald a goofy, they'd go for it. The fountain square was empty. No-one was there… it was like an omen. Aros began to look round the fountain.  
Max looked at his map. If his idea worked, then he could trap that heartless swarm! Coming out on the balcony, he began to think about his life at the castle. He began to think about his dad…when he woke up to find he was gone, he was heartbroken. Apparently he'd gone with some guy named sora…his dads friend Donald had gone too. Well, he'd thought, if they could heros, so could he, and he'd start by defeating this heartless swarm. Taking his map down…what was this? Three people were already taking them down…god-one of them was a heartless! He lept down, only to see the heartless knocked down by a whispering shield. He was about to deal the finishing blow, and max began to see that this heartless was against the shields…

This is it, thought aros. One more blow, and this shield heartless has won. Suddenly, just as the finishing blow was lifted, the heartless dissapared. The figure standing before aros jogged his memeory of soras thoughts…was this goofy? No, it looked like a younger version…  
"hey there," said the stranger,"I'm max." max helped the poor guy to his feet. They watched as the heartless began to merge to become something larger…and it didn't look happy.aros readied himself, just as mike and timon got up.  
"what is that?" he asked. "that",replied max,"is a shield secret


End file.
